Commentary on consequential national and international issues and concerns. (Seeking the foundational causes--not just the symptoms--of our disunity and eventual collapse.)

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Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Confederate States of America: A Model of Jeffersonian Democracy

DID YOU KNOW that the Confederate States of America was an economic powerhouse before Lincoln's lawless and needlessly ruinous slash & burn invasion?

By a huge margin, Per Capita income in EVERY southern state exceeded that of every state in the North, and economic historians described the CSA economy in 1861 as the 4th most powerful in the world. (So, it wasn't a backward, poor and medieval swamp deserving of invasion.) Man, have we been sold a bill of goods all these years by Lincoln apologists passing themselves off as objective American historians.

And just how Jeffersonian vs Hamiltonian/Lincolnian was the CSA governmental structure? Intended to inhibit federal overreach/tyranny/corruption/crony capitalism, here's just a sampling of the restraints incorporated in the CSA Constitution:

1. To restrain general gov't spending, thus containing the growth and corruption of that gov't, the CSA Constitution required a 2/3 vote in each legislative chamber just to INTRODUCE a spending bill !!!!!

2. Bills were clean, i.e. no tack-ons unrelated to the bill under consideration = no pork, no 3,000 page indecipherable omnibus bills catering to an army of lobbyists.

3. Spending for Internal improvements, aka infrastructure, had to be financed by the States and/or private sector--NOT the central government !!! (This is also a requirement in our Constitution though you wouldn't know it. Trump, take careful note !!!)

4. The one 6-yr term President possessed the line-item veto

***5. By a 2/3 vote in each chamber any State in the confederacy was empowered to impeach ANY federal officer operating in that State's territory requiring a timely trial of that offending officer by the national Senate. (You can be sure that reduced federal abuse, overreach at the State level, huh?)

6. Only 3 States (roughly 25% of the States) were needed to propose amendments to the Constitution, and 2/3 of all States were required to ratify same. (Our Constitution under Art V requires 2/3 of States to propose amendments and 3/4 to ratify.)

7. For new States to be admitted into the confederacy, a 2/3 vote in both the House & Senate was required. (Currently, our Constitution requires but a simple majority in both houses of Congress to admit a new State.)

This is just a sampling of the enlightened Jeffersonian provisions contained in the CSA Constitution, some or all of which today's Convention of State advocates should seriously take a look at. (We should carefully consider these provisions for incorporation in our our own US Constitution.)

The more I read about the REAL Confederate States of America the more I come to realize how painfully misinformed we have all been regarding the prosperity, productivity and educational level of the CSA (1 in 248 Southerners were college educated vs 1 in 780 in the North). And BOTH whites and blacks shared in this prosperity. (There's a good reason why so many 'slaves' gallantly fought on the side of the Confederacy.)

Over the years, self-serving revisionist historians hellbent on rendering the North--and Czar Lincoln in particular--the "good guys" have sold us a pack a lies. After all, it is the victor who writes the history, inclusive of all the misinformation and spin, of course. (If you get a chance, for starters check out Donald Livingston's videoed historical commentaries about all aspects of that otherwise terrible and deliberately mischaracterized period in our history. Very enlightening, educational. Might even piss ya' off when you realize how hood-winked we've been all this time.)

For some time now, I have understood that the South can take justifiable pride in its illustrious history and the statuary honoring its heroes, the latter which the crazed Fascist Left revisionists have been intent on destroying these last several years.

Oh, and why did the South lose its War for Independence? Very simply, it was badly out-gunned and terribly out-numbered.

About Me

Retired 2003 as Assoc. Dir. Refugee & Immigration Services in Rochester. A Vietnam veteran (Captain, Infantry/Civil Affairs/Psy Ops), spent many years in Southeast Asia, Africa, Subcontinent managing disaster relief and development projects. Am a small businessman and keenly interested in history and the Constitution. Concerned that our country is being inexorably drawn toward Socialism and that Americans are unwittingly abandoning our founding governing principles and, in the process, our liberties, way of life and economic vitality. Disillusioned with the radicalized Democratic Party, became a member of the Greece and Monroe County Republican Committees until July 2012 when I became a registered member of the Conservative Party. Although politically conservative and a constitutional originalist, I welcome all constructive opinions. Only through common-sense dialogue, objective evaluation of opposing patriotic viewpoints, and a studious adherence to the Constitution can we all learn and develop responsible positions which will benefit our Republic. Member of Rochester Conservatives, the Tea Party, American Legion, Vietnam Vets of America, Gun Owners of America, NRA.